Okay. Exactly how bad was James J. Jeffries then? Jeffries vs. Riddick Bowe.

Bowe would win by late round s tko, due to accumulation of punishment.

 

I can't see it going more than 3. I'm only giving Jeffries that much cause its hard to reliably pick someone going out in 1 round.

For those pointing to Jeffries durability I'd direct you to how Francis Ngannou v AJ went. Francis Ngannou also had a very unique boxing skillset. Ngannou was more durable than Jeffries he probably is a much better boxer than Jeffries. Got him nowhere. The ability to survive Fitzsimmons bombs needs to be paired with some tactical understanding of what the other guys going to do otherwise they can't defend themself. Fury was unprepared for Ngannou but Ngannous had real power to take advantage of that and years of relevant training and experience. At least someone like Fitz would have that, he can make things go boom and he has experience making things go boom. Thats a "win condition". Jeffries has nothing. If Bowe doesn't take the fight serious or doesn't know Jeffries tendancys because theres no film whats Jeffries going to do to him?

Jeffries durability is noted because Jeffries was struggling to win some fights in the earliest annuals of recorded boxing history. There was no formally recorded judging system back then but its not impossible Jeffries loses to Armstrong and Tom Sharkey if there were. Its also a possibility Jeffries beat Sharkey over 25 but loses over 12 15 or 20. Thats what "hes so durable" translates to wearing down a guy whose under 5'9 183 pounds in a fight twice as long as the ones we have today.

Struggling against Corbett who had won 2 fights in almost a decade against guys whose standing in the boxing world came from things they'd done in the decade before that. The early 1880s. People joke about Luis Ortiz but thats as dated as you get. By 1905 Jeffries title reign was an incredibly dated house of cards built on memories. If he'd fought one of the worlds best MWs or LHWs he'd have likely been "exposed" even then.

 

The way the thread title is worded makes it seem as if only a bad fighter would lose to Bowe, and I don’t think that’s the case.

But Bowe wins this one.